Promotion planning for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizing an optimization framework

ABSTRACT

A media management system that generates a plurality of values associated with a promotion impact measure for each of the promotional campaigns based on historical data that is acquired and an expected audience. Inventory unit needs are determined for each of the promotional campaigns that corresponds to a promotion inventory utilization of a plurality of inventory utilization types, based on at least the generated plurality of values. The determined inventory units for each of the promotional campaigns are utilized to dynamically allocate inventory from a defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization types to meet a plurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventory units for one or more specified durations until an end of the upcoming time-frame.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to, claimsthe benefit of, and is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/621,151, filed on Jun. 13, 2017, the entirecontent of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

This application makes reference to:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 11,282,115, which is filed concurrently herewith;-   U.S. Pat. No. 9,922,341, which was issued on Mar. 20, 2018;-   U.S. Pat. No. 11,343,555, which was issued on May 24, 2022;-   U.S. Pat. No. 11,093,968, which was issued on Aug. 17, 2021;-   U.S. Pat. No. 10,070,166, which was issued on Sep. 5, 2018; and-   U.S. Pat. No. 11,064,234, which was issued on Jul. 13, 2021.

Each of the above referenced patent applications is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to advertising andbroadcast systems. More specifically, certain embodiments of thedisclosure relate to a method and system for promotion planning formanaging allocation of inventory mix utilizing an optimizationframework.

BACKGROUND

Most broadcasting and cable networks in the United States areadvertisement-based. As such, their business and operations is thedelivery of impressions or audiences to advertisers and monitoringcampaigns. A network provider (network operator) usually decides whatshows to air in the upcoming broadcast year and when to air them. Aprogramming schedule defines an aggregate capacity of non-programmingairtime, which usually translates to total inventory units available fordifferent inventory utilization types, such as upfront and scatterspots, promos, filler spots, and so on. It is a challenge to balance themix of the total inventory units for the different inventory utilizationtypes, where each of the different inventory utilization types consumecertain amount of inventory.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Systems and/or methods are provided for promotion planning formanagement of allocation of inventory mix utilizing an optimizationframework, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary system forpromotion planning for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizing anoptimization framework, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary advertisementand promotion management system for managing allocation of inventory mixutilizing an optimization framework, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates different inventory utilization types in an exemplarypie chart to depict allocation of inventory mix by the advertisement andpromotion management system of FIG. 1B, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B, collectively, depict a flow chart illustratinghigh-level operation of the advertisement and promotion managementsystem of FIG. 1B, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates exemplary broadcast years to depict initiation of aninventory planning process for managing allocation of inventory mixutilizing an optimization framework, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates a weekly inventory planning process for a specifiedupcoming time-frame for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizingan optimization framework, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B, collectively, depict a flow chart illustratingexemplary operations for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizingan optimization framework in the advertisement and promotion managementsystem, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5C is a flow chart illustrating exemplary operations for apromotion planning process to determine inventory required for promotioninventory utilization type for managing allocation of inventory mix inthe advertisement and promotion management system, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an advertisement and promotion management systememploying a processing system for generating an optimal allocation ofinventory mix, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a method andsystem for promo planning for managing allocation of inventory mixutilizing an optimization framework. The promotion planning is providedin a mixed inventory allocation system that simplifies allocation ofinventory units, and makes optimal use of available inventory byconcurrently allocating inventory units across all utilization types ora subset of the utilization types. Various embodiments of the disclosureprovide an optimization framework to meet a plurality of definedparameters, for example, multiple objectives, for inventory unitallocations among various inventory utilization types. The plurality ofdefined parameters corresponds to maximization of, for example, arevenue parameter for a certain amount of available inventory units thatcorresponds to aggregate capacity of non-programming airtime, as well asminimization of a total penalty that may arise from deviations ofobligatory target values specified in the deals for advertisers and/orpromotional campaigns.

In accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure, a mediamanagement system such as an advertising and promotion management systemthat handles a plurality of deals for a plurality of advertisers and aplurality of promotional campaigns, is configured to generate anexpected audience of a promo schedule for each of the plurality ofpromotional campaigns that are planned for a specified upcomingtime-frame. The media management system is further configured to acquirehistorical data for the plurality of promotional campaigns planned forthe specified upcoming time-frame, and generate a plurality of valuesassociated with a promotion impact measure for each of the plurality ofpromotional campaigns based on the acquired historical data and theexpected audience. The media management system is further configured topredict inventory unit needs for each of the plurality of promotionalcampaigns that corresponds to a promotion inventory utilization type ofa plurality of inventory utilization types, based on at least thegenerated plurality of values. The media management system is furtherconfigured to utilize the determined inventory units for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns to dynamically allocate inventoryunits from a defined amount of inventory units to each inventoryutilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types to meeta plurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventoryunits for one or more specified durations until an end of the specifiedupcoming time-frame.

The media management system is further configured to determine reserveinventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns thatcorresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type for thespecified upcoming time-frame. The media management system is furtherconfigured to acquire historical viewership data for airings of atelevision show similar to that of another television show that is to bepromoted when there is no prior historical data, and/or for definednumber of weeks prior to a date of planning of the plurality ofpromotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame for thedetermination of the amount of inventory units required for one or moreof the plurality of promotional campaigns. The media management systemis further configured to estimate an expected audience to view aplurality of television shows after launch date of the plurality oftelevision shows that are promoted in the plurality of promotionalcampaigns, based on a baseline audience forecast, and a plurality ofvalues for the promotion impact measure achieved with respect to theplurality of television shows based on historical viewership data oftelevision shows similar to that of the plurality of television shows tobe promoted when there is no prior historical data, wherein theestimation of the expected audience is further utilized for thedetermination of the inventory units required for the plurality ofpromotional campaigns. The media management system is further configuredto schedule a plurality of non-programming content items in accordancewith the allocated inventory units among the each inventory utilizationtypes for the one or more specified durations to meet the plurality ofdefined parameters. The plurality of defined parameters corresponds tomaximization of a rating parameter and a revenue parameter for thedefined amount of inventory units and minimization of a total penaltyfrom deviations of obligatory target values arising from the pluralityof deals for the plurality of advertisers and/or the plurality ofpromotional campaigns.

In general, the broadcast year in the United States starts in lateSeptember/early October. Network providers typically announce theirprogramming schedules for the new broadcast year about mid-May.Throughout this document, the terms broadcast provider or broadcastoperator, and network provider or network operator may be utilizedinterchangeably. These announcements are shortly after followed by anintensive sales period known as the upfront market, in which networkssell around 60 to 80% of their commercial airtime. The upfront marketrepresents the first selling wave of units in a new broadcast year forbroadcast or cable networks, and usually occurs around mid-May after thenew fall schedules have been announced, and presented to majoradvertisers. The remaining unsold commercial airtime which correspondsto remaining inventory units may be used in different ways throughoutthe broadcast year: a portion of that time is committed to cableoperator breaks and the rest may be sold in different types of markets,such as the scatter market, filler market, or programmatic inventoryutilization type. It may also be used for promotion, or to clearliability of deals that are projected to have an impression shortfallvia UD.

Independent of the market type, network providers and advertisers, whichare usually represented by advertiser agencies, may go for a few roundsof negotiations in which details of a sales proposal are ironed out. Thesales proposal specifies the flighting dates, a total budget, cost perthousand impressions (CPM), quarterly impression distribution, sellingtitle mix, spot length mix (proportion of 15-second spots, 30-secondspots, etc.), a primary demographic that the advertiser is trying toreach (for instance F25-54, which stands for 25 to 54-year-old females),and a guaranteed audience level in that target demographic. Theflighting dates represent the date range in which the spots will air.Additionally, weekly distribution goals may be specified, and ininstances where weekly distribution goals are not specified, equitabledistribution across weeks is typically expected. The selling title mayrefer to the program in which an inventory bucket airs. One programmingbreak, for example, a 120 seconds interval of non-programming airtime,usually includes one or more inventory buckets, and each inventorybucket may represent an inventory unit. In this regard, the inventorybucket typically inherits the selling title in which it is scheduled. Inother words, the selling title is an interval of programming time that anetwork provider utilizes to sell commercial airtime, and it maycomprise a particular show (Dallas, Cougar Town, etc.) or a block ortime (Daytime—8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Overnight—12:00 midnight to 6:00 AM,etc.). In some cases, the term daypart may be utilized as an alternativename for a selling title, but in other cases a daypart may be anaggregation of selling titles. It should readily be understood thatalthough the discussions may refer to demos, the invention is notlimited in this regard. Accordingly, commercial deals and promotionalcampaigns may be transacted based on other factors such as, for example,targeted audiences. For example, U.S. application Ser. No. 14/842,808discloses a method and system for targeting and demographics schedulingutilizing a framework for audience rating estimation, U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/930,559 discloses a method and system for audience proposalcreation and scheduling utilizing a framework for audience ratingestimation, and U.S. application Ser. No. 14/930,586 discloses a methodand system for reach, mixture, and pricing utilizing a framework foraudience rating estimation.

Once the proposal has been accepted by both parties, the proposalbecomes a deal, and the network provider is liable for the totalguaranteed impressions specified in the deal subject to variousconstraints. A media deal (deal) between an advertiser and a broadcastprovider (network provider or network operator) generally specifiesflighting dates, total budget, CPM, quarterly impression distribution,selling title mix, spot length mix, weekly distribution goals, primarydemographic, ratecard type, and a guaranteed audience level in thetarget demographic. A deal starts as a proposal and becomes a deal whenall terms are agreeable to both parties—advertiser, and networkprovider. Deal stewardship includes monitoring the performance of thedeal and managing deal liability by the network provider. When theprojected number of impressions throughout the entire flight of the dealfalls short of the guaranteed impressions, additional unpaid units haveto be allocated by the network provider to meet the liability for thedeal. The impression liability of a deal is the difference between theguaranteed impressions and the total delivered impressions. Whilenegative liability provides no additional revenue to the networkprovider, positive liability represents a financial commitment that mustbe met by the network provider. The liability is usually projectedduring the flighting of a deal, and additional unpaid units or inventoryunits for UD inventory utilization type may be allocated to theadvertiser to reduce the expected liability. The inventory units for UDinventory utilization type are given to an advertiser to reduce theexpected liability for a given deal. Ratecards are the metrics ofaudience in different target demos, and there are differentclassifications of what constitutes valid audience for a specific deal.These classifications are referred to as ratecard types. Exemplaryratecard types include live (average number of people watching aparticular show when it airs, including both commercial airtime andprogramming), ACM3 (average audience watching only commercial airtimeeither live or within 3 days of airing via DVR systems), and ACM7 (sameas ACM3 but with 7 days of delayed viewing).

Program audience levels are uncertain and may be challenging toforecast. Program audience levels may depend on a number of factors thatinclude time-dependent attributes, such as time of the year, day of theweek, and time of the day, as well as program-dependent attributes suchas show type of shows, lead-in, and competing shows on other networks.Furthermore, while network providers are liable for unmet guaranteedimpressions, the network providers do not receive any additionalbenefits for delivering impressions beyond the guaranteed levels. It isdesirable for network providers to closely monitor and manage theirallocations for all inventory utilization types. The allocation of theinventory units for different inventory utilization types other than theupfront inventory utilization type is performed in a dynamic environmentin which, for example, changing business objectives, and/or changingmarket conditions may change the priorities of the inventory unitallocation mix. Although goals may be described in terms of grossimpressions, the invention is not limited in this regard. For example,metrics such as reach (unduplicated audience), and frequency (number oftimes an individual watches a show), and so on may be used. Additionaldetails on reach and frequency may be found in U.S. application Ser. No.14/930,586 discloses a method and system for reach, mixture, and pricingutilizing a framework for audience rating estimation.

The Inventory Mix Allocation Problem

Advertisers may be classified by industry category in which theadvertiser falls, which is commonly referred to as a conflict code (forexample, telecommunications, retailers, automotive, fast foodrestaurants, movies, etc.), and are usually trying to reach a specificdemographic which they believe is most likely to consume their products.For example, an advertiser of male grooming products might target males18+. Deals may have performance guarantees on the total audience orimpressions in the advertiser's target demographic. The total audiencedelivered to a deal is the gross sum of impressions that fall into thetarget demographic regardless of duplication of impressions. Althoughthe specific ratecard type (metrics of audience in different targetdemos) to be applied to a deal is determined during the sales process,specific audience levels are only forecasts at that time. The actualaudience levels are provided by media rating agencies after thecommercials have aired. In the United States, Nielsen Media Research(Nielsen) is one of the standards for broadcast and cable ratings. Adeal is considered to be under performing if the gross sum of deliveredaudiences from spots that have aired plus the gross sum of estimatedaudiences from spots that haven't aired falls short of the guaranteedaudience.

However, to meet multiple objectives (such as the defined plurality ofparameters), the decisioning of what amount of inventory units should beallocated to each inventory utilization type should be accurate andexecuted quick enough to optimize the allocations proactively for aspecified time horizon as the level of demand for commercial spot andpromo campaigns may vary throughout the year.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary system forpromotion planning for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizing anoptimization framework, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1A, the system 100, comprises anadvertisement and promotion management system 102 that iscommunicatively coupled to published data sources 104 a, . . . , 104 n,and advertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106 n, via anetwork 108. There is shown consumer devices 110 a, . . . , 110 n thatare communicatively coupled to the network 108. The advertisement andpromotion management system 102 may comprise a deal management system112, a promotion management system 114, an inventory management system116, and a traffic system 118. The deal management system 112 maycomprise deal information system 120. The promotion management system114 may comprise a campaigns information system 128.

The advertisement and promotion management system 102 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured toexecute code that handles distribution (broadcast, multicasting, etc) ofcontent comprising audio, video, and/or data. The advertisement andpromotion management system 102 may be operated by a broadcastingcompany, which may be referred to as a broadcast provider or operator,or a network provider or operator. The broadcast provider may handle asingle channel or a plurality of channels, or one or more networks. Thebroadcast provider may be operable to distribute content via one or morechannels, for example, traditional over-the-air broadcast channels,cable television networks, satellite communication networks, theInternet, and/or other content delivery networks (CDNs).

Each of the plurality of published data sources 104 a, . . . , 104 n maybe coupled to one or more television networks and may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute codethat provides actual audiences for programs that were aired. Asillustrated in FIG. 1A, the plurality of published data sources 104 a, .. . , 104 n are coupled to the advertisement and promotion managementsystem 102 via the network 108. An exemplary published data source maybe Nielsen. Another exemplary published data source may be a publisheddatabase that provides ratings for a media item. The GRP is the totalimpression scaled by the potential people (universe of people) watchingand advertiser media schedule.

The advertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106 n maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may beconfigured to place orders with the broadcasting company that includeinformation about spots to be broadcast, the number of spots to bebroadcast, and when should the spots be aired. The advertisement andpromotion management system 102 may be configured to electronicallyreceive, via the network 108, deals comprising advertisers' orders fromthe plurality of advertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106n. The traffic system 118 may be configured to receive an advertiser'sorder to place one or more spots into one or more commercial breaks. Theadvertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106 n may providemultiple orders, which need not be submitted at the same time.Therefore, the traffic system 118 may continuously receive orders withnew, additional spots, or modified constraints for the current spots tobe placed and may need to update any previously determined commercialbreak schedule to accommodate the constraints and requirements of thosespots already placed and of the new spots being received. In thisregard, the advertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106 n mayelectronically book spots to a selling title (ST). The advertiser'sorder comprises airing constraints and placement requirementscorresponding to the one or more spots, and each of the one or morecommercial breaks comprises a plurality of inventory buckets. The airingconstraints corresponding to each of the one or more spots comprise, forexample, one or more of network constraints, selling title constraints,inventory utilization type constraints, allowable date and timeconstraints, and advertiser conflict constraints. The placementrequirements corresponding to each of the one or more spots comprise,for example, one or more of associative constraints, positionconstraints, time separation constraints, franchise and/or titleexclusion constraints, and spot pinning constraints. The associativeconstraints define the positioning of any two or more spots relative toeach other within the same one of the at least one of the plurality ofinventory buckets or in adjacent inventory buckets. The positionconstraints define the positioning of any one spot in one of the atleast one of the plurality of inventory buckets and/or in a commercialbreak.

The network 108 may be any kind of network, or a combination of variousnetworks, and it is shown illustrating the communication that may occurbetween the advertiser order generation systems 106 a, . . . , 106 n andthe advertisement and promotion management system 102. For example, thenetwork 108 may comprise one or more of a cable television network, theInternet, a satellite communication network, a wide area network (WAN),a medium area network (MAN), and a local area network (LAN).

The consumer devices 110 a, . . . , 110 n may refer to end-user deviceswhere the content is played to be viewed by a viewer. The number ofimpressions of a media item, such as an advertisement and/or promotionalmedia, on such plurality of consumer devices 110 a, . . . , 110 ndetermines the advertising impact or promotion impact and number ofactual audiences achieved during campaigns. Examples of the consumerdevices 110 a, . . . , 110 n may include, but are not limited toconnected TVs, connected TV with paired devices (e.g., tablets), andsecond screen devices such as smartphones and tablets, for example.

The deal management system 112 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and interfaces that may be configured to handle a plurality of deals fora plurality of advertisers. A media deal (deal) between an advertiserand the broadcast or network provider (network operator) generallyspecifies flighting dates, total budget, CPM, quarterly impressiondistribution, selling title mix, spot length mix, weekly distributiongoals, primary demographic, ratecard type, and a guaranteed audiencelevel in a target demographic. A deal starts as a proposal and becomes adeal when all terms are agreeable to both parties—advertiser, andnetwork provider. Deal stewardship includes monitoring the performanceof the deal and managing deal liability by the network provider. Whenthe projected number of impressions throughout the entire flight of thedeal falls short of the guaranteed impressions, additional unpaid unitshave to be allocated by the network provider to meet the liability forthe deal. The impression liability of a deal is the difference betweenthe guaranteed impressions and the total delivered impressions. Whilenegative liability provides no additional revenue to the networkprovider, positive liability represents a financial commitment that mustbe met by the network provider. The liability is usually projectedduring the flighting of a deal, and additional unpaid units, commonlyreferred to as under delivery inventory units may be allocated to theadvertiser to reduce the expected liability. The under deliveryinventory units are given to an advertiser to reduce the expectedliability for a given deal. Ratecards are the metrics of audience indifferent target demos, and there are different classifications of whatconstitutes valid audience for a specific deal. These classificationsare referred to as ratecard types. Exemplary ratecard types include live(average number of people watching a particular show when it airs,including both commercial airtime and programming), ACM3 (averageaudience watching only commercial airtime either live or within 3 daysof airing via DVR systems), and ACM7 (same as ACM3 but with 7 days ofdelayed viewing).

The promotion management system 114 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to handle a pluralityof promotional campaigns. The promotion management system 114 may beconfigured to determine reserve inventory units required for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to a promotioninventory utilization type for a specified upcoming time-frame, forexample, next quarter of a broadcast year. The reserve inventory unitsfor the promotion inventory utilization type may also be referred to aspromotion needs or promo needs. The reserve inventory units or promoneeds represents a minimum reserve kept for promotion inventoryutilization type stocked for specified upcoming time-frame. The reserveinventory units for the promotion inventory utilization type may bedetermined based on historical data of an amount of inventory unitsutilized previously under the promotion inventory utilization type forthe same specified upcoming time-frame. Further, the reserve inventoryunits for the promotion inventory utilization type may also bedetermined based on a need of inventory units for the promotioninventory utilization type as anticipated by a marketing user.

The inventory management system 116 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute a code thathandles the reserves for various inventory utilization types. In thisregard, the inventory management system 116 may handle the setup ofreserves for the plurality of inventory utilization types, and establishthe inventory units for the allocation among the plurality of inventoryutilization types, based on an optimal allocation of inventory mixsolution that may be generated by a system for allocation of inventorymix (described in details with respect to FIG. 1B).

The traffic system 118 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to execute code that receives dealinformation from deal management system 112 and campaign informationfrom the promotion management system 114. The traffic system 118 may beassociated with a scheduler 126, which may include a spot scheduler 126Aand a promo scheduler 126B (shown and described in FIG. 1B). The trafficsystem 118 may be configured to receive cleared and/or modified ordersof a plurality of media owners and queue them determine placement of thecorresponding media items in a media feed (such as a program stream) ofeach of one or more channels. The cleared and/or modified orders may bereceived from the inventory management system 116. In this regard, thecleared and/or modified orders may comprise orders that have beencreated or generated based on estimated reserves for each inventoryutilization types. The traffic system 118 may assign the cleared and/ormodified orders that are queued to an available scheduler 126 to handlescheduling of the one or more channels for distribution. A programmingschedule of a channel (generated and modified by the scheduler 126)defines what media content should be scheduled, the ordering of themedia content during playout, and when to distribute. In this regard,the traffic system 118 is configured to receive periodically advertisersorders from the plurality of advertiser order generation systems 106 a,. . . , 106 n, deal management system 112, and the promotion managementsystem 114, and place one or more spots for different inventoryutilization types into one or more commercial breaks (also referred toas advertisement and promotion space) appearing in a same selling titleor different selling titles.

The deal information system 120 is provided in the deal managementsystem 112. The deal information system 120 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be operable to execute code thathandles processing of deals and comprises information for all deals.

In operation, the advertisement and promotion management system 102 maybe configured to handle a plurality of deals for a plurality ofadvertisers and a plurality of promotional campaigns. The plurality ofdeals may be handled by the deal management system 112 of theadvertisement and promotion management system 102. The plurality ofpromotional campaigns may be handled by the promotion management system114 of the advertisement and promotion management system 102. Theadvertisement and promotion management system 102 may retrieve inputand/or parameters for each of the plurality of deals that corresponds toan upfront inventory utilization type and commercial operator break(COB) inventory utilization type, of a plurality of inventoryutilization types. The deal information system 120 comprises informationfor the plurality of deals. The promotion management system 114 may beconfigured to determine reserve inventory units for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to a promotioninventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilizationtypes for a specified upcoming time-frame. An example of the specifiedupcoming time-frame is shown and described in FIG. 4B. The advertisementand promotion management system 102 may be configured to dynamicallyallocate inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units amongeach inventory utilization types of the plurality of inventoryutilization types to meet the plurality of defined parameters for thedefined amount of inventory units for one or more specified durations(such as one or more weeks) until end of the specified upcomingtime-frame. The plurality of inventory utilization types consumesdifferent portions of the defined amount of inventory units based on theallocation of the inventory units. An example of the plurality ofinventory utilization types is shown and described in FIG. 2 . Theplurality of defined parameters corresponds to maximization of a revenueparameter for the defined amount of inventory units and minimization ofa total penalty from deviations of obligatory target values arising fromthe plurality of deals for the plurality of advertisers and/or theplurality of promotional campaigns.

The advertising and promotion management system 102 handles a pluralityof deals for a plurality of advertisers and a plurality of promotionalcampaigns, receives input and/or parameters for each of the plurality ofdeals that corresponds to an upfront inventory utilization type andcommercial operator break (COB) inventory utilization type, of aplurality of inventory utilization types. Reserve inventory units foreach of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to apromotion inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventoryutilization types, are determined for a specified upcoming time-frame.Inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units are dynamicallyallocated among each inventory utilization types of the plurality ofinventory utilization types to meet the plurality of defined parametersfor the defined amount of inventory units for one or more specifieddurations until end of the specified upcoming time-frame. The pluralityof inventory utilization types, which consume different portions of thedefined amount of inventory units based on the allocation of theinventory units, include, but are not limited to, a scatter, an underdelivery (UD) or audience deficiency units (ADUs), a filler, and/or aprogrammatic inventory utilization type in addition to the upfrontinventory utilization type, the COB inventory utilization type, and thepromotion inventory utilization type. A demand value may be estimatedfor inventory units by selling title per specified duration (such as perweek) until end of the specified upcoming time-frame for the scatter andthe programmatic inventory utilization types. Minimum inventory unitsmay be required for the UD and the filler inventory utilization typesfor the specified upcoming time-frame to meet, for example, a liabilityreduction goal parameter, a strategic programmatic parameter, and/or astrategic filler volume parameter. The minimum inventory units requiredfor the UD, the filler, and programmatic inventory utilization types arefurther determined for the specified upcoming time-frame based on adifference of inventory avails that corresponds to the defined amount ofinventory units and the estimated demand value for inventory units forthe scatter inventory utilization.

The advertising and promotion management system 102 may determinewhether a current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventoryutilization type for the first specified duration is less than theestimated demand value for inventory units for the first specifiedduration for the scatter and programmatic inventory utilization types.Inventory units may be re-allocated from inventory avails to the UD, thefiller, and the programmatic inventory utilization types for the firstspecified duration based a value calculated for determined minimuminventory units required for the UD and the filler inventory utilizationtypes, and the estimated demand value for inventory units for theprogrammatic inventory utilization type. The re-allocation of theinventory units from inventory avails to the UD, the filler, and theprogrammatic inventory utilization types may be executed based on adetermination that the current value of the actual demand units for thescatter inventory utilization type for the first specified duration isless than the estimated demand value for inventory units for the firstspecified duration for the scatter and the programmatic inventoryutilization types.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram that illustrates an exemplary advertisementand promotion management system for managing allocation of inventory mixutilizing an optimization framework, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1B, the advertisementand promotion management system 102 may further comprise a dealinformation system 120, a system for allocation of inventory mix (SAIM)122, estimate databases 124, 125, a scheduler 126, a campaignsinformation system 128, a promotion planning system 130, and one or moreuser terminals, such as a (first) user terminal 132 associated with amarketing user 134, another (second) user terminal 136 associated with asales user 138, and a another (third) user terminal 137 associated witha user 139. The scheduler 126 may include a spot scheduler 126A and apromo scheduler 126B. There is also shown the deal management system112, the promotion management system 114, the inventory managementsystem 116, and the traffic system 118, as described in FIG. 1 .

In some embodiments of the disclosure, the deal management system 112,the promotion management system 114, the inventory management system116, and the SAIM 122 may be integrated to form an integrated system. Insome embodiments of the disclosure, as shown, the deal management system112 may be distinct from the promotion management system 114, theinventory management system 116, and the SAIM 122. In some embodimentsof the disclosure, the spot scheduler 126A and the promo scheduler 126Bmay be integrated as a single scheduling system, such as the scheduler126. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the scheduler 126 may be apart of the traffic system 118 to form an integrated system. In someembodiments of the disclosure, the scheduler 126 may be locatedseparately from the traffic system 118. Other separation and/orcombination of the various entities of the exemplary advertisement andpromotion management system illustrated in FIG. 1B may be done withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the various embodiments of thedisclosure.

The SAIM 122 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces thatmay be configured to execute code that handles the allocation of theplurality of inventory utilization types utilizing an optimizationframework. The SAIM 122 interfaces with various hardware components inthe advertisement and promotion management system 102, for example, thedeal management system 112, the promotion management system 114, theinventory management system 116, and the traffic system 118. Thepromotion management system 114 may be configured to receive input froma promotion planner, such as the marketing user 134, via, for example,the user terminal 132. The SAIM 122 may suitably respond to an update inthe promotion management system 114 as a result of the received inputfrom the user terminal 132. The deal management system 112 may beconfigured to receive input from the sales user 138, via, for example,the user terminal 136. The SAIM 122 may also suitably respond to anupdate in the deal management system 112 as a result of the receivedinput from the user terminal 136. The SAIM 122 may be configured toacquire or receive information for one or more deals from the dealinformation system 120, a user 139 of the user terminal 137, thepromotion planning system 130, and/or the inventory management system116 and utilize the received information to generate an optimalallocation of a defined number of inventory units among the plurality ofinventory utilization types. In an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure, the user 139 and user terminal 137 may be utilized toprovide information such as user priorities and objectives (e.g.liability for a time period such as a quarter, and/or emphasis to beplaced on liability) to the SAIM 122.

The estimate database 124 may be utilized to store estimates such asestimates or projections of the audience for programs that will air. Thecampaigns information system 128 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and interfaces that may be configured to execute a code that handlesprocessing of promotional campaigns and comprises information for allcampaigns. The estimate database 125 may be utilized to store estimates,which are generated by the promotion planning system 130, of expectedaudience for the television show that is to be promoted. The estimatedatabases 124, and 125 may be integrated as a single database, or may beseparate estimate databases as illustrated.

The scheduler 126 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and interfacesthat may be configured to execute a code that handles a programmingschedule of a channel. The programming schedule of a channel defineswhat media content should be scheduled, the ordering of the mediacontent during playout, and when to distribute the content. The mediacontent that is distributed may include both the programming content,such as long-form presentations, short-form presentations, news orsporting events; and non-programming content, such as paidadvertisements, public service advertisements, or promotional material.As the programming schedule defines an aggregate capacity ofnon-programming airtime, it usually translates to total inventory unitsavailable for different inventory utilization types. The mix of thetotal inventory units for the different inventory utilization types isbalanced by the SAIM 122. The inventory management system 116 mayestablish the inventory units for the allocation among the plurality ofinventory utilization types, based on an optimal allocation of inventorymix solution generated by the SAIM 122. The spot scheduler 126A may beconfigured to schedule one or more spots for different inventoryutilization types (except promotional media that corresponds topromotion inventory utilization type) into one or more commercial breaks(which are part of non-programming airtime) appearing in a same sellingtitle or different selling titles. It is to be understood that acommercial break have multiple inventory buckets where inventory unitsthat corresponds to different (or even same) inventory utilizationtypes, may be placed. The promo scheduler 126B may be configured toschedule promotional media (i.e. promotion inventory utilization type ofthe different inventory utilization types) in the non-programmingairtime based on information received from traffic system 118.

The promotion planning system 130 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to execute a promotionplanning process. The promotion planning system 130 may be configured toestimate an expected audience to view a television show after a launchdate of the television show that is to be promoted in one of theplurality of promotional campaigns. It should readily be understood thatthe various embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to atelevision show but are applicable to any type of media content. Thepromotion planning system 130 may be configured to estimate the expectedaudience for a television show that is to be promoted. The estimatedatabase 125 may be utilized to store estimates of the expected audiencefor the television show that is to be promoted. The estimation of theexpected audience may be stored in the estimate database 124, and may beutilized to determine an amount of inventory units required to meet theobjectives of the promotional campaign associated with the televisionshow. In accordance with an embodiment, the amount of inventory unitsrequired to meet the objectives of the promotional campaign for thetelevision show may also be estimated based on a past state, a currentstate, and a future state associated with a television show that is tobe promoted. The past state corresponds to a historical viewership dataof another television show similar to the television show that is to bepromoted when there is no prior historical data for the promotionalcampaign. The current state includes a type (or kind) of a televisionshow that is to be promoted. The type of television show may correspondto a television show that is a new and original show, which has not beenbroadcasted before by any channel or network, a returning original show,an ongoing series, or a movie or special content. The type of televisionshow may influence the amount of promotional inventory required. Forexample, a television show that happens to be an ongoing series mayrequire less inventory units as compared to a new and original show.Further, the future state may correspond to a launch date of atelevision show, target audience of interest, and/or the number oftelevision shows to be promoted in a specified upcoming time-frame (e.g.next quarter or a next broadcasting season or year). Thus, the promotionplanning system 130 may also utilize the past state, the current state,and the future state information associated with one or more televisionshows to be promoted to determine the aggregate inventory units requiredfor promotional campaigns. The functions and/or operations performed bythe advertisement and promotion management system 102, and its variouscomponents, are further described, in FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B,5C, and 6 .

In accordance with an embodiment, the promotion planning system 130 mayestimate an expected audience to view a plurality of television showsafter launch date of the plurality of television shows that are promotedin the plurality of promotional campaigns. The expected audience may beestimated based on an offset (a specified constant), the generatedbaseline audience forecast, and the plurality of values for thepromotion impact measure achieved with respect to the plurality oftelevision shows in a first week of airing of the television shows, andfor defined number of weeks prior to the estimation of the expectedaudience. The promotion planning system 130 may estimate the expectedaudience to view the plurality of television shows based on historicalviewership data of television shows similar to that of the plurality oftelevision shows to be promoted when there is no prior historical data.The estimation of the expected audience may be further utilized todetermine the amount of inventory units required for the one or morepromotional campaigns. The mathematical expression (1) below, may beused for the estimation of the expected audience.

Exemplary Estimation Model

The promotion planning system 130 may be configured to estimate anexpected audience (AA_(i)) to view a television show that is promoted inat least one of the plurality of promotional campaigns, by use of themathematical expression (1).AA _(i)=α+β₀[Baseline_(i)]+Σ_(j=0) ^(K)γ_(j)(GRPs_(ij))  (1)Where,AA_(i)=Average audience achieved for a telecast, or group of telecaststo which a promotional campaign as focused on driving tune in to, “i=1,2, . . . n indexes the campaigns;α=An offset, such as a specified constant;β₀[Baseline_(i)]=A baseline audience; this could be the network'stypical average audience performance for the time and day of thescheduled telecast(s) of interest, or the estimated audience of thelead-in to a telecast or group of telecasts;.Σ_(j=0) ^(K)γ_(j)(GRPs_(ij))=Gross impressions achieved weekly for thepromotional media schedule for campaign i, for the defined number ofweeks of the promotional campaign, j=0, 1, 2, 4 . . . (j is the weeksleading up to the campaign i), k=refers to the lag in terms of the totalnumber of weeks of a promotional campaign.

The baseline audience forecast may be generated for audience-basedtargets and/demographics for the plurality of promotional campaigns thatare planned for the specified upcoming time-frame. For the baselineaudience forecast, audience rating estimates, lead-in audienceestimates, and/or other research-based forecast, may be used. Theestimation can be used to determine the campaign goals in terms of grossrating points (GRPs), which will then be used to compute promo inventoryneeds.

The estimation of the expected audience is utilized to determine anamount of inventory units required for a particular promotional campaignrelated to the television show (a promo) of the plurality of promotionalcampaigns. An exemplary mathematical model is now provided forestimation of promo inventory needs.

Aggregate Promo Inventory Needs Optimization

The following is a high-level description of an exemplary mathematicalprogramming problem that can be used to compute the promo inventory thatis needed to achieve the promo campaign goals defined in terms of grossrating points (GRP's).

Sets:

-   -   C=Set of promotional campaigns to be planned.    -   P_(j)=Set of promo groups (sub-campaigns) for campaign j, ∀j∈C.        [Note: a campaign can have one or more promo groups].    -   N_(H)=Set of broadcaster-owned networks for promo planning.    -   N_(O)=Set of off-channel networks for promo planning.    -   N=N_(H)∪N_(O)=Set of all networks for promo planning.    -   S_(n)=Set of selling titles for network n, ∀n∈N.    -   W=Set of weeks in the planning horizon.        Parameters:    -   G_(i) ^(D)=The demo GRP goal for promo group i. ∀j∈C, ∀i∈P_(j).    -   G_(i) ^(T)=The target GRP goal for promo group i. ∀j∈C,        ∀i∈P_(j).    -   H_(j)=The host network for campaign j. ∀j∈C.    -   Â_(nsw) ^(D)=Estimated demo GRPs in network n, selling title s,        week w. ∀n∈N, ∀s∈S_(n), ∀w∈W    -   Â_(nsw) ^(T)=Estimated target GRPs in network n, selling title        s, in week w. ∀n∈N, ∀s∈S_(n), ∀w∈W    -   q_(s) ^(i)=The maximum proportion of units from selling title s        that can be assigned to promo group i.    -   R_(nsw)=Rate for units in network n, selling title s, week w.        ∀n∈N, ∀s∈S_(n), ∀w∈W (Rates could be constant across weeks).    -   I_(nsw)=Number of available airtime units in network n, selling        title s, week w. ∀n∈N, ∀s∈S_(n), ∀w∈W    -   q_(ns) ₁ ^(i), q_(n) ₁ ^(i), q^(i)=The minimum proportion of        units that should be allocated respectively to selling title s₁,        network n₁, and all off-channel networks.    -   Q_(ns) ₁ ^(i), Q_(n) ₁ ^(i), Q^(i)=The maximum proportion of        units that should be allocated respectively to selling title s₁,        network n₁, and all off-channel networks.        Decision Variables:

x_(nsw) ^(i)=Number of units to be allocated for promo group i innetwork n, selling title s, week w.∀j∈C,∀i∈P _(j) ,∀n∈N,∀s∈S _(n) ,∀w∈WFormulation:

$\begin{matrix}{Minimize} & {\sum_{i}{\sum_{n}{\sum_{s}{\sum_{w}{R_{nsw}x_{nsw}^{i}}}}}} & \\{{Such}{that}} & {{\sum_{n}{\sum_{s}{\sum_{w}{A_{nsw}^{D}x_{nsw}^{i}}}}} \geq G_{i}^{D}} & {{\forall{j \in C}},{\forall{i \in P_{j}}}} \\ & {{\sum\limits_{n}{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}{A_{nsw}^{T}x_{nsw}^{i}}}}} \geq G_{i}^{T}} & {{\forall{j \in C}},{\forall{i \in P_{j}}}} \\ & {q_{{ns}_{1}}^{i} \leq \frac{\sum\limits_{w}x_{{ns}_{1}w}^{i}}{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}x_{nsw}^{i}}} \leq Q_{{ns}_{1}}^{i}} & {{\forall{j{in}C}},{\forall{i \in P_{j}}},{\forall{n \in N}},{\forall{s_{1} \in S_{n}}}} \\ & {q_{n_{1}}^{i} \leq \frac{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}x_{n_{1}{sw}}^{i}}}{\sum\limits_{n}{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}x_{nsw}^{i}}}} \leq Q_{n_{1}}^{i}} & {{\forall{j{in}C}},{\forall{i \in P_{j}}},{\forall{n_{1} \in N}}} \\ & {q^{i} \leq \frac{\sum\limits_{n_{o}}{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}x_{nsw}^{i}}}}{\sum\limits_{n}{\sum\limits_{s}{\sum\limits_{w}x_{nsw}^{i}}}} \leq Q^{i}} & {{\forall{j{in}C}},{\forall{i \in P_{j}}}} \\ & {{\sum\limits_{i}x_{nsw}^{i}} \leq I_{nsw}} & {{\forall{n \in N}},{\forall{s \in S_{n}}},{\forall{w \in W}}} \\ & {x_{nsw}^{i} \in {\mathbb{Z}}^{+}} & {{\forall{n \in N}},{\forall{s \in S_{n}}},{\forall{w \in W}}}\end{matrix}$

This formulation minimizes the value of the inventory required to meetthe demo GRP goal and the target GRP goal of all the promotionalcampaigns. The first and second set of constraints enforce that the demoand target GRP goals for every promo group must be met, respectively.The third, fourth, and fifth set of constraints establish minimum andmaximum limits on the proportion of units that that should be allocatedrespectively to selling title s₁, network n₁, and all off-channelnetworks. The sixth set of constraints states that the allocation ofunits is limited by the number of units that are available for eachnetwork-selling title-week. Finally, variables x_(nsw) ^(i) are definedover the set of nonnegative integers.

This is an exemplary formulation. Alternative objective functions can beemployed which may use different metrics of inventory value (forinstance, number of units as opposed to dollar-weighted units) as wellas additional terms such as penalty terms that quantify deviations fromdesired goals such as the demo and target GRP goals. Likewise, themaximum and minimum proportions presented in terms of units allocatedcould alternatively be expressed as proportions of dollar value,proportions of demo GRPs, proportions of target GRPs, proportions ofdifferent groupings of inventory (for instance dayparts instead ofselling titles). Furthermore, additional constraints that may appear inpromo planning can also be accommodated such as:

-   -   Maximum number of units per promo group or campaign (total, by        network, by network type, by selling title, by selling        title-week)    -   Equitable distribution across weeks or skewed distribution based        on relative avails across weeks.    -   Limit on the dollar value of the inventory assigned to promo        groups or campaigns.    -   Upper and lower limits on the efficiency of an allocation (for        instance in terms of an index of dollar value consumed over demo        or target GRPs yield).

This determined amount of inventory units required for the particularpromotional campaign, and other campaigns of the plurality ofpromotional campaigns may be stored in the campaigns information system128, and utilized by the SAIM 122 for the allocation of the inventoryunits to the various inventory utilization types, as described in FIGS.3A, 3B, 4B, 5A, and 5B. It is to be understood that there is adifference between generating a forecast and computing a baselineaudience which is used to model the sensitivity of audience to a changein weekly gross impressions leading up to a campaign. Generating aforecast refers to forecasting the target impressions associated withinventory used to promote, tune-in to a specific telecast, or group oftelecasts for a promo campaign.

FIG. 2 illustrates different inventory utilization types in differentproportions in an exemplary pie chart to depict allocation of inventorymix by the advertisement and promotion management system of FIG. 1B, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Referring toFIG. 2 , there is shown a plurality of inventory utilization types in agraphical representation by means of an exemplary pie chart 200. Theplurality of inventory utilization types includes an upfront inventoryutilization type 202, a promotion inventory utilization type 204, acommercial operator break (COB) inventory utilization type 206, ascatter inventory utilization type 208, a under delivery (UD) inventoryutilization type 210, a filler inventory utilization type 212, and/or aprogrammatic inventory utilization type 214. The plurality of inventoryutilization types refers to different market types that consumedifferent portions of a defined amount of inventory units (e.g. totalamount of inventory units available for different inventory utilizationtypes for at least one channel) in a certain time frame as specified bya broadcast or network provider.

The upfront inventory utilization type 202 refers to an upfront marketthat represents the first selling wave of inventory units in a newbroadcast year for the broadcast or network provider, and usually occursaround mid-May, and presented to major advertisers. The broadcast year(or broadcast season) in the United States typically starts in lateSeptember/early October. Network providers typically announce theirprogramming schedules for the new broadcast year about mid-May. Shortlyafter these announcements, an intensive sales period known as theupfront market follows, during which networks (network provider) sellsthe bulk of their inventory units, for example, 60 to 80% of theircommercial airtime in advance. During this period, a few majoradvertisers, enter into a media deal (deal) with the broadcast ornetwork provider at relatively typically lower value (such as lowermargins) as compared to other types of inventory utilization types, suchas the scatter inventory utilization type 208. The deals that correspondto the upfront market generally specify flighting dates, total budget,CPM, quarterly impression distribution, selling title mix, spot lengthmix, weekly distribution goals, primary demographic, ratecard type, anda guaranteed audience level to be achieved in a target demographic. Thedeals are handled by the deal management system 112 of the advertisementand promotion management system 102 as described in FIG. 1A.

The promotion inventory utilization type 204 refers to another type ofinventory used to promote an upcoming show (or program) of a channelairing on a television network to the viewing audience. A plurality ofpromotional campaigns may be planned to promote one or more shows inadvance. The promotion planning process by the promotion planning system130 may be initiated for each quarter of a year before the end of theprevious quarter. For example, no later than 6 weeks prior to start of anew quarter. For each promotional campaign, a target value based on apromotion impact measure, such as gross rating points by week, to beachieved may be specified for a particular targeted audience and/ordemographics. Further, flighting dates, total budget, spot length mix,and/or selling title mix per campaign, for example, maximum or minimumnumber of impressions for each daypart, may also be specified for eachpromotional campaign. Additionally, a mix per network, for example, amix of a host network promotion, a cross-network promotion, or anoff-network promotion, may also be specified. The host network promotionrefers to a promotion of a television show of a channel or network inthe same channel or network, for example, promotion of an upcoming showof cable news network (CNN) channel in the same (i.e. a host) CNNchannel. The cross-network promotion refers to a promotion of atelevision show of a different channel or network on a host networkwhere the television show is promoted (e.g. promoting a TurnerBroadcasting System (TBS) show on Turner Network Television (TNT)). Theoff-network promotion refers to promotion of media content items notowned by the host channel or other networks, for example, a new movie,or a special media content item (e.g. promoting a TBS show on USANetwork, where USA Network has nothing to do with the Turner Portfolioof channels, the latter of which includes TBS).

The COB inventory utilization type 206 is also referred to as a cableoperator break. In this case, a media content, such as localadvertisements or promotional media content, may be inserted (usually byaffiliates of the network provider, such as local cable operators) in anetwork feed, and such promotional media content distribution may beunique to a local station. Thus, the COB inventory utilization type 206corresponds to non-programming time allocated to the cable operatorsthat is fixed based on contract negotiations. After allocation of theupfront inventory utilization type 202, the promotion inventoryutilization type 204, and the COB inventory utilization type 206 may bepredictable.

The scatter inventory utilization type 208 refers to a scatter marketthat represents selling of commercial airtime that remains after theupfront market has concluded. After the upfront deals and estimation ofaggregate inventory units requirement for the promotion inventoryutilization type 204 and the COB inventory utilization type 206, theinventory units remaining from the defined amount of inventory units maybe assigned for the scatter inventory utilization type 208 and sold on aspot market (or scatter market) throughout the broadcasting season oryear. The remaining inventory units that correspond to unsold commercialairtime after deducing inventory units for the upfront inventoryutilization type 202, the promotion inventory utilization type 204, andthe COB inventory utilization type 206, are typically sold at higherrates throughout the broadcast year in what is known as the scattermarket.

The UD inventory utilization type 210 may include reserve inventoryunits for UD scenarios kept in advance to meet obligatory target valuesthat may possibly arise for the plurality of deals with the advertiserswhen the projected number of impressions in the upfront deals fallsshort of the guaranteed impressions for the specified upcomingtime-frame, such as in the broadcast season. Typically, when the networkprovider enters into deals with advertisers in which the networkprovider is liable for total guaranteed impressions specified in thedeal, the network provider has to monitor the projected number ofimpressions throughout the entire flight of the deal. In an event, theprojected number of impressions falls short of the guaranteedimpressions, the network provider has to allocate additional unpaidunits in order to meet the liability for the deal. These unpaid unitsare known as audience deficiency units, make good units, or underdelivery (UD) inventory units, which are generally referred to in theart as UD. The SAIM 122 may be configured to determine which of theplurality of deals have a guaranteed audience, and are under delivering.U.S. application Ser. No. 15/091,475, which was filed on Apr. 5, 2016,entitled “allocation of under delivery units utilizing an optimizationframework,” discloses, for example, an advertisement management systemthat utilizes a multistage optimization for allocation of under deliveryunits.

The filler inventory utilization type 212 corresponds to a market type,where certain number of inventory units may be used for sale. The fillerinventory utilization type 212 refers to a comparatively short termmarket, for example, less than 2-3 weeks, with non-guaranteed audience.As an example, a prospective customer may be urged to respondimmediately and directly to the advertiser, in response to a display ofcertain direct response mechanisms, such as a toll-free telephonenumber, or, via internet. The programmatic inventory utilization type214 corresponds to inventory that may be available without direct sales.

FIGS. 3A and 3B, collectively, depict a flow chart illustrating ahigh-level operation of the advertisement and promotion managementsystem of FIG. 1B, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, there are shown a flow chart300 comprising exemplary operations 302 through 318.

At 302, the SAIM 122 may receive input and/or parameters for each of theplurality of deals that corresponds to the upfront inventory utilizationtype 202 and the COB inventory utilization type 206. The input and/orparameters for each of the plurality of deals for a specified upcomingtime-frame, such as quarter 4 (Q4) of a year, may be received from thedeal information system 120.

At 304, reserve inventory units for each of the plurality of promotionalcampaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type204 of the plurality of inventory utilization types, may be determinedfor the specified upcoming time-frame. The promotion management system114 that handles a plurality of promotional campaigns, may be configuredto determine reserve inventory units required for each of the pluralityof promotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame. Thereserve inventory units by week for the promotion inventory utilizationtype may also be referred to as promotion needs or promo needs. Thereserve inventory units by week for the promotion inventory utilizationtype may be determined based on historical data of an amount ofinventory units utilized previously under the promotion inventoryutilization type 204 for the same specified upcoming time-frame, such asprevious quarter. The historical data may be retrieved from thecampaigns information system 128, which stores both historical andcurrent information related to the promotional campaigns. The reserveinventory units for the promotion inventory utilization type 204 mayalso be determined based on a need of inventory units for the promotionas anticipated by the marketing user 134, and fed into the campaignsinformation system 128, via the user terminal 132. In a case, whereinventory units requirement for the promotion inventory utilization type204 is available from the promotion planning process when executed bythe promotion planning system 130.

At 306, inventory units planning process for one or more specifieddurations until end of the specified upcoming time-frame, may beinitiated. For example, the SAIM 122 may initiate weekly inventoryplanning for the next 13 weeks, at least two weeks prior to the start ofthe 1 week of the next 13 weeks, as shown and described in FIG. 4B.

At 308A, inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units may bededucted for the upfront inventory utilization type 202, the promotioninventory utilization type 204, and/or the COB inventory utilizationtype 206. The allocation may be executed by the SAIM 122 for the one ormore specified durations (e.g. weekly) until end of the specifiedupcoming time-frame.

At 310A, minimum inventory units (or levels of inventory) for each ofthe UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilizationtype 212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214, may bedetermined. Such minimum inventory units may be determined fromavailable inventory units after inventory units are allocated among theupfront inventory utilization type 202, the COB inventory utilizationtype 206, and also initial allocation for the promotion inventoryutilization type 204 (based on promo needs) is done.

At 312A, inventory units available for the scatter inventory utilizationtype 208 may be calculated. The inventory units available for thescatter inventory utilization type 208 may also be referred to asscatter avails. The scatter avails may correspond to the availableinventory units after 310A is executed.

At 314A, it may be checked whether the inventory units available for thescatter inventory utilization type 208 is greater than zero (i.e. ifscatter avails >0). In cases where the inventory units available for thescatter inventory utilization type 208 is greater than zero, the controlpasses to 317A, else to 316A.

At 316A, a notification may be generated that no inventory units areremaining for further allocation. The control may pass back to 314A tocontinuously or periodically check for a change in the availability ofthe inventory units for the scatter inventory utilization type 208.

At 317A, the units for scatter demand are deducted.

At 318A, inventory units that may be further allocated from theremaining inventory units among the promotion inventory utilization type204, the UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventoryutilization type 212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type214, may be determined. The remaining inventory units may correspond tothe inventory units available for the scatter inventory utilization type208 (based on operation 312A). The number of inventory units to beallocated to each of the promotion inventory utilization type 204, theUD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilization type212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214 isdetermined based on incremental value such that revenue from the UDinventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilization type212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214 is optimizedand at least ratings for inventory units assigned to the promotioninventory utilization type 204 may be increased using an optimizationframework.

At 320A, the remaining inventory units from the defined amount ofinventory units may then be dynamically allocated to the promotioninventory utilization type 204, the UD inventory utilization type 210,the filler inventory utilization type 212, and/or the programmaticinventory utilization type 214. The allocation may be executed by theSAIM 122 for the one or more specified durations until end of thespecified upcoming time-frame. The control may then pass to operation322, as shown in FIG. 3B.

Concurrent with the operation 308A, at 308B, the inventory units fromthe defined amount of inventory units may be deducted from the upfrontinventory utilization type 202, the promotion inventory utilization type204, and/or the COB inventory utilization type 206 for the firstspecified duration, for example, week 1 of the planned next 13 weeks.The allocation may be executed by the SAIM 122 for the next specifiedduration, for example, for the week 1 of the planned next 13 weeks, andat least 2 weeks prior to the start of the week 1 (shown by time-point424 in FIG. 4B).

At 309B, a number of inventory units that were determined in the longterm planning for each of the UD inventory utilization type 210, thefiller inventory utilization type 212, and/or the programmatic inventoryutilization type 214 required to fill up the remaining inventory units(e.g. inventory avails), may be deducted. The SAIM 122 may be configuredto determine the number of inventory units for each of the UD inventoryutilization type 210, the filler inventory utilization type 212, and/orthe programmatic inventory utilization type 214, to compensate for thedifference in the estimated demand value for inventory units for thefirst specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type 208and the current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventoryutilization type 208 for the first specified duration using anoptimization framework.

At 310B, it may be determined whether a current value of actual demandunits for the scatter inventory utilization type 208 for the firstspecified duration (e.g. a first week) of the specified upcomingtime-frame, for example, week 1 of the planned next 13 weeks, is lessthan the estimated demand value for inventory units for the firstspecified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type 208. Basedon a determination that the current value of actual demand units for thescatter inventory utilization type 208 for the first specified durationis less than the estimated demand value for inventory units for thefirst specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type 208,the control passes to 316B and if it is greater than, then controlpasses to 312B. In an event, the current value of actual demand unitsfor the scatter inventory utilization type 208 for the first specifiedduration is equal to the estimated demand value for inventory units forthe first specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type208, the control passes to 322.

At 312B, it may be determined which consumed inventory units must berecouped in order to meet inventory limitations.

At 316B, inventory units from inventory avails may be re-allocated amongthe UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilizationtype 212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214. There-allocation may be executed by the SAIM 122 for the first specifiedduration based on the determined number of inventory units for each ofthe UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilizationtype 212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214 usingthe optimization model. Similar to first specified duration, theinventory unit mix adjustment for re-allocation may be executed by theSAIM 122 for the one or more consecutive specified durations until endof the specified upcoming time-frame.

At 318B, the remaining inventory units from the defined amount ofinventory units may be allocated to the scatter inventory utilizationtype 208. The allocation may be executed by the SAIM 122 for the firstspecified duration.

At 322, the scheduler 126 may be configured to handle scheduling of aplurality of non-programming content items in accordance with theallocated inventory units among each inventory utilization types for theone or more specified durations to meet a plurality of definedparameters, for example, multiple objectives. The plurality of definedparameters corresponds to maximization of a revenue parameter for acertain amount of available inventory units that corresponds toaggregate capacity of non-programming airtime, as well as minimizationof a total penalty that may arise from deviations of obligatory targetvalues specified in the deals for advertisers and/or promotionalcampaigns. In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of definedparameters corresponds to maximization of a rating parameter for atleast the promotion inventory utilization type 204 and the revenueparameter for other inventory utilization types for the defined amountof inventory units.

FIG. 4A illustrates broadcast years to depict initiation of an inventoryplanning process for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizing anoptimization framework, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4A, there is shown a planning horizonof a broadcast year, starting from fourth quarter (Q4) 402, followed byfirst quarter (Q1) 404, second quarter (Q2) 406, and third quarter (Q3)408. There is also shown various events 410 to 418 in the twobroadcastings years, as shown in the planning horizon. It should benoted that although the broadcast period is illustrated in years, thedisclosure is not limited in this regard, and other suitable periods maybe utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

The event 410 corresponds to the upfront market, which usually occursaround mid-May in Q2 of a broadcast year, where the network providerstypically announce their programming schedules for the next broadcastyear (or a broadcast season of a calendar year 1) that starts in lateSeptember/early October in Q4 402, as shown.

The events 412 to 418 correspond to start of the promotion planningprocess. The promotion planning process may be initiated by thepromotion planning system 130 for each quarter of a broadcast yearbefore the end of the previous quarter. For example, promotion planningfor Q4 402 may be initiated, for example, 6 weeks prior to start of theQ4, as shown by the event 412. Similarly, promotion planning for Q1 404may be initiated at the end of the Q4 402, such as 6 weeks prior tostart of the Q1 404, as shown by the event 414. The events 416 and 418depict promotion planning for Q2 406 and Q3 408 at the end of the Q1 404and Q2 406 respectively, as shown.

In accordance with an embodiment, in the initial promotion planningprocess at the event 412 (for example, 6 weeks prior to start of a newquarter (FIG. 4A), the promotion management system 114 may be configuredto determine reserve inventory units by week required for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotioninventory utilization type 204 for the specified upcoming time-frame,for example, for 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A from the start of theQ4 402. Thus, at this time point that corresponds to the event 412, theinitial decisioning related to the amount of inventory units to beassigned to the promotion inventory utilization type 204 based on thedetermined reserve (promotion needs), the upfront inventory utilizationtype 202, the COB inventory utilization type 206 for the specifiedupcoming time-frame, such as the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A, mayalready be determined and available with the SAIM 122. The reserveinventory units by week for the promotion inventory utilization type 204may be determined based on historical data of an amount of inventoryunits utilized previously under the promotion inventory utilization type204 for the same specified upcoming time-frame, such as quarter 4 ofprevious year. The historical data may be retrieved from the campaignsinformation system 128, which stores both historical and currentinformation related to the promotional campaigns. The reserve inventoryunits for the promotion inventory utilization type 204 may also bedetermined based on a need of inventory units for the promotion asanticipated by the marketing user 134, and fed into the campaignsinformation system 128, via the user terminal 132.

FIG. 4B illustrates exemplary quarterly and weekly inventory planningprocess for a specified upcoming time-frame for managing allocation ofinventory mix utilizing an optimization framework, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4B is described inconjunction with elements from FIG. 4A. Referring to FIG. 4B, there isfurther shown quarterly inventory determinations and allocations, suchas a 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A and a next upcoming time-frame420B. The 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A and the next upcomingtime-frame 420B are examples of the specified upcoming time-frame orlong term quarterly planning for different inventory utilization types.There is also shown weekly durations 422, such as week 1 to 13 of the 13weeks upcoming time-frame 420A. The weekly durations 422 is shown todescribe weekly or short-term adjustments of the different inventoryutilization types on rolling basis until the end of the specifiedupcoming time-frame. The weekly durations 422 is an example of the oneor more specified durations, where each specified duration (e.g. eitherone, two, or three weeks duration) is shorter than the specifiedupcoming time-frame, such as the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A.There is also shown time-points 424 to 432, which represents certaindecisioning, allocation, and re-allocation of inventory mix at certaintime-points of a broadcasting year, such as 1 or 2 weeks before thestart of a new quarter, or after certain week(s) has/have passed after astart of a quarter.

In accordance with an embodiment, at time-point 424 (i.e. “t_(Q4)−2weeks”), the SAIM 122 may initiate weekly inventory planning for thenext quarter, such as Q4 402 at least two weeks prior to the start ofthe Q4 402 (i.e. if time “t”=begin of Q4 402, then at “t_(Q4)−2 weeks”(or at the end of 11^(th) week of the quarter 3 (Q3)), such weeklyinventory planning for the Q4 402 may be initiated, as shown. Attime-point 424, based on current scatter demand and inventory avails,the SAIM 122 may dynamically allocate inventory units from the definedamount of inventory units (e.g. from inventory avails) among eachinventory utilization types of the plurality of inventory utilizationtypes to meet multiple objectives, such as the plurality of definedparameters, for the weekly durations 422 until end of the 13 weekupcoming time-frame 420A. As the time progresses, and with regards tothe short-term planning and adjustments, the SAIM 122 may periodicallyadjust and re-distribute the previously allocated inventory units amongeach inventory utilization types of the plurality of inventoryutilization types to meet multiple objectives. For example, based on adetermination that the current value of actual demand units for thescatter inventory utilization type 208 for the first specified duration,such as “W1” of the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A, is less or morethan the estimated demand value for inventory units for the firstspecified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type 208,further inventory units adjustment and re-allocation among differentinventory utilization types, may be done. The short term weekly planningand adjustments for allocation of inventory mix is described in FIGS. 3Aand 3B, with reference to operations 310B to 318B. For example, attime-point 426 (i.e. t_(Q4)−1 week), there may be a change in thepreviously estimated demand value and actual value of actual demandunits for the scatter inventory utilization type 208 for the firstspecified duration, such as “W1” of the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame420A. Thus, based on such changes in the previously estimated demandvalue and actual value of actual demand units, the SAIM 122 may beconfigured to re-allocate the determined number of inventory units amongdifferent inventory utilization types, using the optimization model.Similar to short term weekly planning and adjustments for allocation ofinventory mix at time-point 426, the SAIM 122 may be configured toperiodically execute weekly inventory units adjustment and re-allocationamong different inventory utilization types for each of the weeklydurations 422 (for example, at time-point 428 (t) and time-point 430(i.e. t_(Q4)+1 week), within the Q4 402 until end of the 13 weeksupcoming time-frame 420A.

In accordance with an embodiment, similar to the operation executed attime-point 424, the SAIM 122 may initiate weekly inventory planning forthe next quarter, such as quarter 1 (Q1) at least two weeks prior to thestart of the Q1 (i.e. at “t_(Q1)−2 weeks” (or at the end of 11^(th) weekof the Q4 402, as shown. At time-point 432, based on current scatterdemand and inventory avails, the SAIM 122 may then dynamically allocateinventory units from the defined amount of inventory units (e.g. fromremaining inventory avails) among each inventory utilization types ofthe plurality of inventory utilization types to meet multipleobjectives, such as the plurality of defined parameters, for weeklydurations until end of the next upcoming time-frame 420B. Thus, thisprocess of quarterly inventory determinations and allocations may begin2 weeks prior to start of every quarter, and short-term adjustments maybe done within each quarter until the end of the respective quarter. Thevarious operations executed by the SAIM 122 of the advertisement andpromotion management system 102, may be further understood from theflowchart of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIGS. 5A and 5B, collectively depict a flow chart illustrating exemplaryoperations for managing allocation of inventory mix utilizing anoptimization framework in the advertisement and promotion managementsystem, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, there are shown a flow chart 500comprising exemplary operations 500 through 524. At 502, the SAIM 122may receive inventory avails by selling title per week from theinventory management system 116 for the first specified duration, suchas W1 of the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A. The inventory availscorresponds to inventory units remaining after allocation to the upfrontinventory utilization type 202, the promotion inventory utilization type204, and the COB inventory utilization type 206. This operation 502 maystart at time-point 424, which represents 2 weeks prior to the start ofweek 1 (the first specified duration) of the 13 weeks upcomingtime-frame 420A. At 504, the SAIM 122 may be configured to estimate ademand value for inventory units by selling title per week (i.e. W1, W2,. . . W13) for the scatter inventory utilization type 208. Although FIG.5A and FIG. 5B described using selling title per week, the disclosure isnot limited in this regard and other duration and/or metrics (e.g.actual units) may be utilized without departing from the variousembodiments of the disclosure.

At 506, the estimated demand value may be translated to a count ofinventory units potentially required for the scatter inventoryutilization type 208 and the programmatic inventory utilization type 214by selling title per week. At 508, the count of inventory unitspotentially required for the scatter inventory utilization type 208 maybe subtracted with the received inventory avails.

At 510, minimum inventory units required for the UD inventoryutilization type 210, the filler inventory utilization type 212, and theprogrammatic inventory utilization type 214 for the one or morespecified durations of the specified upcoming time-frame, may bedetermined. The SAIM 122 may determine the minimum inventory unitsrequired for the UD inventory utilization type 210 to proactively meet ascenario of under delivering by the plurality of deals to attain lowertargets while honoring corresponding deal constraints. At 512, a valuethat corresponds to the determined minimum number of inventory unitsrequired for the UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventoryutilization type 212, and the programmatic inventory utilization type214 may be subtracted from the estimated count of inventory unitspotentially required for the scatter inventory utilization type 208.

At 514, remaining inventory units after subtraction of the value thatcorresponds to the determined minimum number of inventory units requiredfor the UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventoryutilization type 212, and the programmatic inventory utilization type214, from the estimated count of inventory units potentially requiredfor the scatter inventory utilization type 208, may be determined. Atstep 516, a monetary value for the determined minimum number ofinventory units required for the UD inventory utilization type 210, thefiller inventory utilization type 212, and the programmatic inventoryutilization type 214 may be calculated. The monetary value for theprogrammatic inventory utilization type 214 may be calculated at leastbased on the determined remaining inventory units.

At 518, a current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventoryutilization type 208 and the programmatic inventory utilization type 214for next specified duration, such as next week, is compared with apreviously estimated (such as a forecast) inventory units for thescatter inventory utilization type 208. At 520, it may be determinedwhether the current value of the actual demand units for the scatterinventory utilization type 208 for the next specified duration is lessthan the previously estimated (such as a forecast) inventory units forthe scatter inventory utilization type 208 for the next specifiedduration. In an event, the current value of the actual demand units forthe scatter inventory utilization type 208 is less than the previouslyestimated inventory units for the scatter inventory utilization type 208for the next specified duration, the control passes to 522, else to 524.

At 522, inventory units from inventory avails may be re-allocated amongthe UD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilizationtype 212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214. There-allocation may be executed by the SAIM 122 for the first specifiedduration, such as week 1, based on the calculated monetary value usingthe inventory mix optimization framework. At 524, it may be determinedwhich consumed inventory units must be recouped in order to meetinventory limitations. The control may then return to 502 to repeat theprocess for week 2 to week 13 until end of the specified upcomingtime-frame, such as the 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A (as shown inFIG. 4B). Thus, for each week, a different amount of inventory units maybe allocated for each inventory utilization types based on theoperations 502 to 522 using the inventory mix optimization frameworksimilar to the re-allocation for the first specified duration, such as“W1”. Thus, for each week of the specified upcoming time-frames, such asthe 13 weeks upcoming time-frame 420A and the next upcoming time-frame420B, there may be a different pie chart that represents the proportionof the allocated inventory units to each of the plurality of theinventory utilization types.

FIG. 5C is a flow chart illustrating exemplary operations for apromotion planning process to determine inventory required for promotioninventory utilization type for managing allocation of inventory mix inthe advertisement and promotion management system, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5C, there areshown a flow chart 552 comprising exemplary operations 552 through 566.

At 552, the promotion management system 114 may determine handling of aplurality of promotional campaigns for a specified (or next) upcomingtime-frame.

At 554, the promotion planning system 130 may be configured to generatea baseline audience forecast for at least one of a target ordemographics for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaignsthat are planned for the specified upcoming time-frame. The baselineaudience forecast may include audience rating estimates, lead-inaudience estimates, and/or other research-based forecasts. The baselineaudience forecast may be stored in the estimate database 124. U.S.application Ser. No. 14/842,817, which was filed on Sep. 1, 2015,entitled “programming optimization utilizing a framework for audiencerating estimation,” discloses, for example, a television programscheduling system that receives historical audience data for previoustelecasts of the shows on one or more television networks, calibrates amodel for audience rating estimation based on the historical audiencedata, utilizes the calibrated model for audience rating estimation togenerate estimates or projections of audience in the future. U.S.application Ser. No. 14/842,808, which was filed on Sep. 1, 2015,entitled “targeting and demographics scheduling utilizing a frameworkfor audience rating estimation,” discloses, for example, anadvertisement management system that generates audience rating estimatedby demographics and/or by target.

At 556, the promotion planning system 130 may generate an expectedaudience of a promo schedule for each of the plurality of promotionalcampaigns that are planned for the specified upcoming time-frame.

At 558, the promotion planning system 130 may acquire historical datafor the plurality of promotional campaigns planned for the specifiedupcoming time-frame. In accordance with an embodiment, the promotionplanning system 130 may further acquire historical viewership data forairings of a television show similar to that of another television showthat is to be promoted when there is no prior historical data, and/orfor defined number of weeks prior to a date of planning of the pluralityof promotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame for thedetermination of the amount of inventory units required for one or moreof the plurality of promotional campaigns.

At 560, the promotion planning system 130 may generate a plurality ofvalues associated with a promotion impact measure for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns based on the acquired historical dataand the expected audience. The plurality of values associated with thepromotion impact measure may correspond to the GRP goals resulting fromthe expected estimation from the exemplary estimation model. In thisregard, the goals may be informed by the size of the audience they wantfor the show and what they can achieve given the inventory availability.

At 562, the promotion planning system 130 may determine inventory unitsfor each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds tothe promotion inventory utilization type 204 of the plurality ofinventory utilization types, based on at least the generated pluralityof values.

At 564, the SAIM 122 may utilize the determined inventory units for eachof the plurality of promotional campaigns to dynamically allocateinventory units from a defined amount of inventory units among eachinventory utilization types of the plurality of inventory utilizationtypes. The dynamic allocation is done to meet a plurality of definedparameters for the defined amount of inventory units for one or morespecified durations until an end of the specified upcoming time-frame.

At 566, the scheduler 126 may schedule a plurality of non-programmingcontent items in accordance with the allocated inventory units among theeach inventory utilization types for the one or more specified durationsto meet the plurality of defined parameters. The plurality of definedparameters corresponds to maximization of a rating parameter and arevenue parameter for the defined amount of inventory units andminimization of a total penalty from deviations of obligatory targetvalues arising from the plurality of deals for the plurality ofadvertisers and/or the plurality of promotional campaigns.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an advertisement and promotion management systememploying a processing system for generating an optimal allocation ofinventory mix, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. Referring to FIG. 6 , the hardware implementation shown by arepresentation 600 for the advertisement and promotion management system102 employs a processing system 602 for generating an optimal allocationof under delivery units across a plurality of deals, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, as described herein. In someexamples, the processing system 602 may comprise one or more hardwareprocessors 604, a non-transitory computer-readable medium 606, ahardware deal management system 112, a hardware promotion managementsystem 114, a hardware inventory management system 116, a hardwaretraffic system 118, and a hardware SAIM 122. The hardware dealmanagement system 112 may comprise a hardware deal information system120. The hardware promotion management system 114 may comprise ahardware campaigns information system 128 and a hardware promotionplanning system 130. The processing system 602 may also include ascheduler 126. In some embodiments, the scheduler 126 may comprise aspot scheduler 126A and a promo scheduler 126B.

In this example, the advertisement and promotion management system 102employing the processing system 602 may be implemented with a busarchitecture, represented generally by bus 608. The bus 608 may includeany number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on thespecific implementation of the advertisement and promotion managementsystem 102 and the overall design constraints. The bus 608 linkstogether various circuits including the one or more processors,represented generally by the processor 604, the non-transitorycomputer-readable media, represented generally by the computer-readablemedium 606, the hardware deal management system 112, the hardwarepromotion management system 114, the hardware inventory managementsystem 116, the hardware traffic system 118, the hardware dealinformation system 120, the hardware SAIM 122, the scheduler 126, thehardware campaigns information system 128, and the hardware promotionplanning system 130 which may be configured to carry out one or moreoperations or methods described herein. A bus interface 610 provides aninterface between the bus 608 and a transceiver 612. The transceiver 612provides a means for communicating via the network 108 with variousother apparatus, such as the advertiser order generation systems 106 a,. . . , 106 n, and the consumer devices 110 a, . . . , 110 n.

The user terminals 132 and 136 may comprise a keypad, display, speaker,microphone, pointing to enable a user, such as the marketing user 134and the sales user 138 to interact with the advertisement and promotionmanagement system 102. The user terminal 132 may be configured topresent a user interface that enables the marketing user 134, such as apromotion planner to configure and interact with components such as thecampaigns information system 128. Similarly, the user terminal 136 maybe configured to present another user interface that enables the salesuser 138, such as a deal handler, to configure and interact withcomponents such as the deal information system 120. The user terminal137 may be configured to present a user interface that enables user 139to provide information such as user priorities and objectives to theSAIM 122.

The processor 604 may be configured to manage the bus 608 and generalprocessing, including the execution of a set of instructions stored onthe computer-readable medium 606. The set of instructions, when executedby the processor 604, causes the advertisement and promotion managementsystem 102 to execute the various functions described herein for anyparticular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 606 may also be usedfor storing data that is manipulated by the processor 604 when executingthe set of instructions. The computer-readable medium 606 may also beconfigured to store data for one or more of the hardware traffic system118, the hardware deal management system 112, the hardware inventorymanagement system 116, the hardware deal information system 120, thehardware SAIM 122, the hardware campaigns information system 128, thescheduler 126, and/or the hardware promotion planning system 130.

In an aspect of the disclosure, the processor 604, the computer-readablemedium 606, or a combination of both may be configured or otherwisespecially programmed to execute the operations or functionality of thehardware deal management system 112, the hardware promotion managementsystem 114, the hardware inventory management system 116, the hardwaretraffic system 118, the hardware deal information system 120, thehardware SAIM 122, the scheduler 126, the hardware campaigns informationsystem 128, and the hardware promotion planning system 130, or variousother components described herein. For example, processor 604,computer-readable medium 606, or a combination of both may be configuredor otherwise specially programmed to perform the operations andfunctionality of the hardware deal management system 112, the hardwarepromotion management system 114, the hardware inventory managementsystem 116, the hardware traffic system 118, the hardware dealinformation system 120, the hardware SAIM 122, the hardware orsoftware-based scheduler 126, the hardware campaigns information system128, and the hardware promotion planning system 130 as described withrespect to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, and 5C.

Various embodiments of the disclosure comprise an advertising andpromotion management system 102 that may be configured to handle aplurality of deals for a plurality of advertisers and a plurality ofpromotional campaigns. The advertising and promotion management system102 may comprise, for example, the deal management system 112, thepromotion management system 114, the inventory management system 116,the traffic system 118, the SAIM 122, and the scheduler 126. The dealmanagement system 112 may comprise the deal information system 120. Thepromotion management system 114 may comprise the campaigns informationsystem 128 and the promotion planning system 130. The SAIM 122 may beconfigured to receive input and/or parameters for each of the pluralityof deals that corresponds to the upfront inventory utilization type 202of the plurality of inventory utilization types, from the dealinformation system 120. The promotion management system 114 may beconfigured to determine reserve inventory units for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotioninventory utilization type 204 and the COB inventory utilization type206, of the plurality of inventory utilization types for a specifiedupcoming time-frame, such as the specified upcoming time-frame. The SAIM122 may be configured to dynamically allocate inventory units from adefined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization typesof the plurality of inventory utilization types to meet the plurality ofdefined parameters for the defined amount of inventory units for one ormore specified durations (such as one or more weeks) until end of thespecified upcoming time-frame.

The plurality of defined parameters corresponds to maximization of arevenue parameter for the defined amount of inventory units andminimization of a total penalty from deviations of obligatory targetvalues arising from the plurality of deals for the plurality ofadvertisers and/or the plurality of promotional campaigns. The pluralityof inventory utilization types, which consume different portions of thedefined amount of inventory units based on the allocation of theinventory units, include the scatter inventory utilization type 208, theUD inventory utilization type 210, the filler inventory utilization type212, and/or the programmatic inventory utilization type 214 in additionto the upfront inventory utilization type 202, the COB inventoryutilization type 206, and the promotion inventory utilization type 204.

The promotion management system 114 may determine handling of aplurality of promotional campaigns for a specified upcoming time-frame.The promotion planning system 130 may also generate an expected audienceof a promo schedule for each of the plurality of promotional campaignsthat are planned for the specified upcoming time-frame. In accordancewith an embodiment, the promotion planning system 130 may acquirehistorical data for the plurality of promotional campaigns planned forthe specified upcoming time-frame. The promotion planning system 130 maygenerate a plurality of values associated with a promotion impactmeasure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns based on theacquired historical data and the expected audience. The promotionplanning system 130 may determine inventory units for each of theplurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotioninventory utilization type 204 of the plurality of inventory utilizationtypes, based on at least the generated plurality of values. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the SAIM 122 may utilize the determinedinventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns todynamically allocate inventory units from a defined amount of inventoryunits among each inventory utilization types of the plurality ofinventory utilization types. The dynamic allocation is done to meet aplurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventoryunits for one or more specified durations until an end of the specifiedupcoming time-frame.

The promotion planning system 130 may also determine reserve inventoryunits for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns thatcorresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type for thespecified upcoming time-frame. In accordance with an embodiment, thepromotion planning system 130 may further acquire historical viewershipdata for airings of a television show similar to that of anothertelevision show that is to be promoted when there is no prior historicaldata, and/or for defined number of weeks prior to a date of planning ofthe plurality of promotional campaigns for the specified upcomingtime-frame for the determination of the amount of inventory unitsrequired for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns. Thepromotion planning system 130 may be configured to generate a baselineaudience forecast for at least one of a target or demographics for oneor more of the plurality of promotional campaigns that are planned forthe specified upcoming time-frame. The baseline audience forecast mayinclude audience rating estimates, a lead-in audience estimate, and/orother research-based forecast.

The SAIM 122 provides significant productivity and efficiencyimprovements since the process of allocating inventory units acrosshundreds of deals and promotional campaigns has been reduced from weeksto minutes. Since the SAIM 122 continually receives input from the dealinformation system 120 and the promotion management system 114,inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units are dynamicallyallocated, for example for future weeks, among each inventoryutilization types to meet multiple objectives at the same time. Forexample, ratings, such as GRP or actual audience achieved, and revenuefrom the defined amount of inventory units are maximized, whereas atotal penalty from deviations of obligatory target values arising fromthe hundreds of deals and promotional campaigns, are minimized.

Thus, the SAIM 122 enables the advertising and promotion managementsystem 102 to operate more efficiently and optimally providing both aneconomic and a cost advantage. Further, when the SAIM 122 generates anoptimal allocation of inventory units for different inventoryutilization types, the allocation solution may be generated utilizingless memory than would otherwise be required resulting in much fasterprocessing time (faster computation time without sacrificing accuracy).This enables a faster and timely allocations of the inventory avails,and the results of a selected allocation may be propagated in a muchfaster manner to other hardware components in the advertisement andpromotion management system 102 to more efficiently and quickly schedulethe spots in accordance with the allocation of the inventory units. Theability to quickly compute optimal allocation solutions for a given setof parameters may free up valuable processing resources such as memoryand computing power, which may be utilized when the SAIM 122 processesoptimal allocation solutions for the plurality of inventory utilizationtypes.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments ofthe disclosure” does not require that all embodiments of the disclosureinclude the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and/or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As usedherein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise afirst “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” when executing a second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example,“x, y, and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y),(z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term“exemplary” means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, orillustration. As utilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example”set off lists of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, orillustrations. As utilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform afunction whenever the circuitry comprises the necessary hardware andcode (if any is necessary) to perform the function, regardless ofwhether performance of the function is disabled, or not enabled, by someuser-configurable setting.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments ofthe disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the”are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that theterms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, whenused herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actionsto be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It willbe recognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence ofactions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any non-transitory form of computer readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions thatupon execution would cause an associated processor to perform thefunctionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of thedisclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of whichhave been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subjectmatter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, thecorresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as,for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

Another embodiment of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorymachine and/or computer readable storage and/or media, having storedthereon, a machine code and/or a computer program or instructions havingat least one code section executable by a machine and/or a computer,thereby causing the machine and/or computer to perform the steps asdescribed herein for promotion planning for managing allocation ofinventory mix utilizing an optimization framework.

The present disclosure may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, algorithm, and/or stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, orcombinations thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in firmware,hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination thereof. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flashmemory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthat the processor can read information from, and write information to,the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be noted understood by, for example, thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modification could be madeand equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure as defined, for example, in the appended claims.In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularsituation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure withoutdeparting from its scope. The functions, steps and/or actions of themethod claims in accordance with the embodiments of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated. Therefore, it is intended that thepresent disclosure not be limited to the particular embodimentdisclosed, but that the present disclosure will include all embodimentsfalling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: in a media management system that handles a plurality of agreement information for a plurality of promotional campaigns: generating, by a processor, a plurality of values associated with a promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns based on historical data and an expected audience, wherein the plurality of promotional campaigns is planned for a specified upcoming time-frame, and wherein the historical data indicates an amount of inventory units utilized previously under a promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame; determining, by the processor, a gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for a defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns; determining, by the processor, a number of inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type of a plurality of inventory utilization types, based on a difference in an estimated demand value for the inventory units for a specified duration for a scatter inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types and a current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventory utilization type for the specified duration and at least the gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns and a plurality of constraints, wherein one or more specified durations until an end of the specified upcoming time-frame comprises the specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type, and wherein the plurality of constraints sets limit on allocation of a proportion of the inventory units to a selling title, a network, and off-channel networks; allocating, by the processor, based on the number of inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns, inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types to meet a plurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventory units for the one or more specified durations until the end of the specified upcoming time-frame; and distributing, by the processor, content via at least one channel based on the allocation of the inventory units from the defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining, by the processor, reserve inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising acquiring, by the processor, historical viewership data of a first television show similar to that of a second television show that is to be promoted in at least one of absence of prior historical data, or for a defined number of weeks prior to a date of planning of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame for the determination of the number of inventory units required for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising estimating, by the processor, the expected audience to view a plurality of television shows after launch date of the plurality of television shows that are promoted in the plurality of promotional campaigns, a baseline audience forecast, and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure achieved with respect to the plurality of television shows, wherein the estimation of the expected audience, the baseline audience forecast and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure is based on historical viewership data of television shows similar to that of the plurality of television shows to be promoted in absence of prior historical data, and wherein the estimation of the expected audience is further utilized for the determination of the number of the inventory units required for the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising scheduling, by the processor, a plurality of non-programming content items based on the inventory units among each inventory utilization type for the one or more specified durations to meet the plurality of defined parameters.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of defined parameters correspond to at least one of maximization of a rating parameter and a revenue parameter for the defined amount of inventory units and minimization of a total penalty from deviations of defined target values associated with the agreement information.
 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising generating, by the processor, a baseline audience forecast for at least one of a target or a demographics for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising allocating, by the processor, the inventory units from the defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types based on an inventory planning for an upcoming time frame that is initiated at a defined duration prior to a start of the upcoming time frame.
 9. A system, comprising: at least one processor in media management system that handles a plurality of agreement information for a plurality of promotional campaigns, the at least one processor configured to: generate a plurality of values associated with a promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns based on historical data and a baseline audience forecast, wherein the plurality of promotional campaigns is planned for a specified upcoming time-frame, and wherein the historical data indicates an amount of inventory units utilized previously under a promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame; determine a gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for a defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns; determine a number the inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type of a plurality of inventory utilization types, based on a difference in an estimated demand value for the inventory units for a specified duration for a scatter inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types and a current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventory utilization type for the specified duration and at least the gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns and a plurality of constraints, wherein one or more specified durations until an end of the specified upcoming time-frame comprises the specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type, and wherein the plurality of constraints sets limit on allocation of a proportion of the inventory units to a selling title, a network, and off-channel networks; allocate, based on the number of inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns, inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types to meet a plurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventory units for the one or more specified durations until the end of the specified upcoming time-frame; and distribute content via at least one channel based on the allocation of the inventory units from the defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types.
 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to reserve inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame.
 11. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to acquire historical viewership data of a first television show similar to that of a second television show that is to be promoted in at least one of absence of prior historical data, or for a defined number of weeks prior to a date of planning of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame for the determination of the number of the inventory units required for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to estimate an expected audience to view a plurality of television shows after launch date of the plurality of television shows that are promoted in the plurality of promotional campaigns, the baseline audience forecast, and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure achieved with respect to the plurality of television shows, wherein the estimation of the expected audience, the baseline audience forecast and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure is based on historical viewership data of television shows similar to that of the plurality of television shows to be promoted in absence of prior historical data, and wherein the estimation of the expected audience is further utilized for the determination of the number of the inventory units required for the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 13. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to schedule a plurality of non-programming content items based on the inventory units among each inventory utilization type for the one or more specified durations to meet the plurality of defined parameters.
 14. The system according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of defined corresponds to at least one of maximization a revenue parameter for the defined amount of inventory units and minimization of a total penalty from deviations of defined target values associated with the agreement information.
 15. The system according to claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate the baseline audience forecast for at least one of a target or a demographics for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-implemented instructions for causing at least one processor to execute operations, the operations comprising: in a media management system that handles a plurality of agreement information for a plurality of promotional campaigns: generating a plurality of values associated with a promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns based on historical data and a baseline audience forecast, wherein the plurality of promotional campaigns is planned for a specified upcoming time-frame, and wherein the historical data indicates an amount of inventory units utilized previously under a promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame; determining a gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for a defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns; determining a number of the inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type of a plurality of inventory utilization types, based on a difference in an estimated demand value for the inventory units for a specified duration for a scatter inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types and a current value of actual demand units for the scatter inventory utilization type for the specified duration and at least the gross sum of the plurality of values associated with the promotion impact measure for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the defined number of weeks of each of the plurality of promotional campaigns and a plurality of constraints, wherein one or more specified durations until an end of the specified upcoming time-frame comprises the specified duration for the scatter inventory utilization type, and wherein the plurality of constraints sets limit on allocation of a proportion of the inventory units to a selling title, a network, and off-channel networks; allocating based on the number of inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns, inventory units from a defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types to meet a plurality of defined parameters for the defined amount of inventory units for the one or more specified durations until the end of the specified upcoming time-frame; and distributing content via at least one channel based on the allocation of the inventory units from the defined amount of inventory units among each inventory utilization type of the plurality of inventory utilization types.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise determining reserve inventory units for each of the plurality of promotional campaigns that corresponds to the promotion inventory utilization type for the specified upcoming time-frame.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise acquiring historical viewership data of a first television show similar to that of a second television show that is to be promoted in at least one of absence of prior historical data, or for a defined number of weeks prior to a date of planning of the plurality of promotional campaigns for the specified upcoming time-frame for the determination of the number of inventory units required for one or more of the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise estimating an expected audience to view a plurality of television shows after launch date of the plurality of television shows that are promoted in the plurality of promotional campaigns, the baseline audience forecast, and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure achieved with respect to the plurality of television shows, wherein the estimation of the expected audience, the baseline audience forecast and the plurality of values for the promotion impact measure is based on historical viewership data of television shows similar to that of the plurality of television shows to be promoted in absence of prior historical data, and wherein the estimation of the expected audience is further utilized for the determination of the number of the inventory units required for the plurality of promotional campaigns.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a plurality of non-programming content items based on in accordance with the inventory units among each inventory utilization type for the one or more specified durations to meet the plurality of defined parameters. 